Going to a Doctor After a Car Accident
Being in a car accident can be one of the most overwhelming and terrifying experiences to go through. If you’ve been involved in a car accident, you could have suffered injuries to your nerves, muscles, and possibly bones that may not be immediately visible. Therefore, it is important to visit a car accident clinic in Atlanta within the first 72 hours so a personal injury physician can evaluate the severity of your injuries.
Getting treated sooner can help you get back to your everyday life quickly and may prevent any injuries from getting worse. While your family physician may help you, personal injury physicians are experienced in dealing with accident-related injuries and can help evaluate and treat you. Accident doctors specialize in musculoskeletal injuries such as whiplash, strains, and spinal issues which symptom’s may take days to manifest.
Common Auto Accident Injuries
Auto accident injuries send over 4 million Americans to the emergency room each year. Most of the pain and symptoms only show up hours to days after the accident. Even if you think you are fine, you should still see your doctor for an examination, just to make sure you are okay. You’ll be surprised to know that even minor injuries can easily escalate and become more severe when left untreated.
Car accident doctors are experienced in handling treatment for accidents, including:
- Whiplash and other neck injuries
- Concussions
- Traumatic head and brain injuries
- Back and spinal cord injuries
- Spondylolisthesis or Vertebral Fractures
- Herniated Disc
- Cervical facet joint syndrome
What Doctor to See After a Car Accident?
A doctor with experience treating car accident patients has access to the necessary equipment and a wide range of medical professionals to help you detect possible injuries that may not be obvious immediately. After an accident, your body releases an abundance of hormones such as adrenaline that tend to mask pain and injury symptoms for days and even weeks. This can give you a false sense of health, while you may actually be severely injured in reality.
Your first visit may be to your general practitioner to refer you to the right kind of specialist after an accident. In many cases a neurosurgeon or orthopedic physician are the go to doctors to treat car accident injuries since the spine and joints are usually affected. An experienced physician will perform a physical evaluation and diagnostic testing to identify any potential injuries you may have suffered in the crash. This ensures that you get a personalized treatment plan that is uniquely tailored for your individual needs.
Treating Car Accident Injuries
Physical therapy is often prescribed by the doctor treating car accident injuries to help restore range of motion and stability of the injured area, particularly when this is dealing with the neck and lower back pain. Usually this involves stretching, gradual strengthening exercises and physical manipulation of the area like hot and cold packs. Working with a physical therapist ensures you have a plan customized to suit your recovery process and that your exercise routine helps with the healing process. It’s possible to make an injury worse with over training or lifting too much weight, so the guidance of an expert is extremely helpful. Chiropractic care after a car accident is another supplemental tool to realign the spine and help with any pressure on the spine caused by a car accident.
Car accident pain management helps during the recovery process, since many times car accidents lead to severe pain. Over the counter medications are the first line of defense in pain management, but for some patients these aren’t helpful. Hot and cold packs can also help relax muscles in pain, and promote blood flow and healing. There are also steroidal injections which help control inflammation at the injury site and thus reduce the amount of pain you’re experiencing. Your doctor will work with you and your pain levels to determine what treatment is necessary and help you get back to feeling healthy.
Is Spine Surgery for a Car Accident Needed?
The impact of a car collision compresses the spine and might cause a herniated disc or other fractures which lead to back and neck pain. You might also experience a dislocated vertebra or soft tissue damage in the back. If any of these occur and are severe enough to warrant surgery, your doctor will refer you to a neurosurgeon with experience operating on injuries like these. Some of the common surgeries to alleviate back injuries after a car accident are discectomy, laminectomy, and spinal fusion. If the spinal fusion is addressing a herniated disc an alternative to this lengthy surgery is the minimally invasive laser spine surgery.
How Our Doctors Can Help
If you’ve had a car accident in Atlanta, our accident doctors at AllSpine Laser and Surgery Center can help you get back to your everyday life. We will review all your symptoms, do a thorough examination, identify all points of injury, and provide a personalized treatment plan appropriate to your specific injury. We can also provide you with specific guidance and referrals to specialists as needed.
Car accident injury treatment should be personalized to each unique patient. When you visit any of our Atlanta based medical centers, you can be confident that you’ll get the best solutions to your pain, whether it’s from a concussion, herniated disc, whiplash, or spinal stenosis.
Our personal injury physicians are dedicated to your well being and have a wide variety of treatments and plans available to make the whole experience easy for you. Contact us today to get the medical care you desperately need after an auto accident.